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<TITLE>OUT OF THEIR MINDS</TITLE>

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<CENTER><B><H1>OUT OF THEIR MINDS: The Lives and Discoveries of 
15 Great Computer Scientists</H1></B></CENTER>
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<HR>

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<P>
<CENTER><!WA0><IMG
SRC="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/jeff/ootmsmall.gif" ALT="small cover image"></CENTER>

<P>
<H2>  
Computer science is one of the most important forces shaping today's
society and the future, yet it is one of the least understood. Who made
the key breakthroughs and how did they do it?
</H2>
<P>
<P>
OUT OF THEIR MINDS introduces readers 
to 15 of the planet's foremost computer scientists,
including eight winners of the Turing Award,
computing's Nobel Prize.   The scientists
reveal themselves in fascinating anecdotes about their
early inspirations and influences, their contributions to
computer science and their thoughts on its explosive future.
<P>
<H2>
<!WA1><IMG SRC="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/jeff/cathy.gif" ALIGN =LEFT ALT="Cathy Lazere">
Why Did We Write the Book?
<!WA2><IMG SRC="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/jeff/dennis.gif" ALIGN=RIGHT ALT="Dennis Shasha"> 
</H2>
<P ALIGN = LEFT>
Imagine visiting Isaac Newton in 1690.  You  might  ask  for
his  views  about  inertial forces and he might tell you his
memories of farm life in Woolsthorpe.  It is  the  privilege
of talking with the living Isaac Newtons of Computer Science
that inspired 
<!WA3><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/authors.html"> us </a>
to write    <I>Out of Their Minds </I>.</P>


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<P>
<HR>


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<HR>
<H1> What the Critics Are Saying....</H1>


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<P>
<P ALIGN = LEFT><U>Out of Their Minds: the lives and discoveries of 15 Great
Computer Scientists</U> by Dennis Shasha and Cathy Lazere is a 
fascinating collection of profiles and interviews...
Computer science in its modern form goes back only to the 1930's,
and most of the pioneers are still alive.
It is as if we could speak with Euclid, Archimedes and Galileo.</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>--L.R. Shannon, "Of Digital History," <B>The New York Times, Science
 Times section, Tuesday, August 29, 1995</B></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
<HR>
<P>
Would you like to become, or beget, a world-changing computer scientist?
There aren't any hard-and-fast secrets of success,
but judging from the brief biographies found in this book,
computer geniuses are skeptical but broad-minded,
curious and fun-loving, precocious as well as stubborn,
independent to the point of being trouble-making.
Don Knuth, a pioneer in computer algorithms,
in eighth grade found 2,000 more solutions to a candy bar
maker's word game than the manufacturer thought existed;
Daniel Hillis, a founder of massive parallel processing,
designed toys for Milton Bradley while attending M.I.T.
Troublemaking?
Yes, if that includes twitting authority, for the inventor
of FORTRAN, John Backus, hated school so much he flunked classes,
while Alan C. Kay, developer of object-oriented programming,
was suspended from Brooklyn Technical High for insubordination....
Dennis Shasha and Cathy Lazere have written a friendly and informative
guide to a group of scientists who have --- whether we acknowledge
it or not --- greatly shaped the world we take for granted.
</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>--Chris Goodrich, Book Review <B>The Los Angeles Times, 
 Sunday, November 12, 1995</B></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
<HR>

<P ALIGN = LEFT><U>Out of Their Minds</U> is lucidly written, 
consistently interesting, full of beautiful insights, examples, 
and stories, and generally inspiring. Also, lots of fun.</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>--David Gelernter, Professor of 
Computer Science, Yale University, author of <I>Mirror Worlds</I> and 
<I>1939: The Lost World of the Fair</I>.</BLOCKQUOTE>
</A>




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<HR>
<H1> See For Yourself</H1>

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<P>
We have excerpted from the introduction and 
the beginnings of four chapters
to give you a flavor of what's in the book.
<P>

<ul>

<li>
<!WA4><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/intro.html">Introduction</a>
<li>
Part 1: Linguists
<ul>
<li>
<!WA5><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/backus.html">John Backus</a>
<li>
John McCarthy
<li>
Alan Kay
</ul>
<li>
Part 2: Algorithmists
<ul>

<li>
Edsger Dijkstra
<li>
Michael Rabin
<li>
<!WA6><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/knuth.html">Donald Knuth</a>
<li>
Leslie Lamport
<li>
Robert Tarjan
<li>
Steve Cook and Leonid Levin
</ul>
<li>
Part 3: Architects
<ul>

<li>
Fred Brooks
<li>
Burton Smith
<li>
<!WA7><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/hillis.html">Danny Hillis</a>
</ul>
<li>
Part 4: Sculptors of Machine Intelligence
<ul>

<li>
Edward Feigenbaum
<li>
<!WA8><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/lenat.html"> Doug Lenat</a>
</ul>

<li>
Secrets of Success

<li>
The Next 25 Years

<li>
Glossary

<li>
References
<li>
The book also includes
<!WA9><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/jeff/pictures.html">
photographs of the scientist at various ages.
See if you can recognize some of the creators of this field.
</a>
</ul>

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<HR>
<H1> A Small Sampling of Anecdotes </H1>

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<ul>
<li>
<!WA10><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/mccarthypuzzle.html">
The puzzle that started complexity theory.
</a>
<li>
<!WA11><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/dijkstracafe.html">
Where Dijkstra was when he discovered the shortest path algorithm.
</a>
<li> 
<!WA12><a href="http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/hillisfeyn.html">
How Richard Feynman got involved in Danny Hillis's Connection Machine.
</a>
</ul>

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<HR>
<H1> How Do I Order A Copy?</H1>


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<P>
To order by phone: (US and Canada) 1-800-777-4643; 
(Other Americas, Europe, and Africa) (49) 30-82-071, Berlin office; 
and (Asia and Australia) (852) 72-73-96-98, Hong Kong office.
<P>

<!WA13><a href=mailto:orders@springer-ny.com>
To order by email from the US, Canada, and Mexico. 
</a>.
<P>
<!WA14><a href=mailto:orders@springer.de>
To order by email from anywhere else.
</a>.

<H2> What to Specify in the Order </H2>

<P>
<LI><U>OUT OF THEIR MINDS: the lives and discoveries of 
15 great computer scientists</U> by Dennis Shasha 
and Cathy Lazere.
<P>

<LI>ISBN: 0-387-97992-1
<P>

<LI>Publication date: August, 1995.
<P>

<LI>Publisher: Copernicus/ An Imprint of Springer-Verlag, 
New York, Inc./175 Fifth Avenue/ New York, New York 10010
<P>

<LI>Suggested Retail Price: $23 (U.S) $33 (Canada)</A>
<P>

Comments are welcome.
Please send them to
<!WA15><A HREF=mailto:shasha@cs.nyu.edu>shasha@cs.nyu.edu</A>.

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